“My brother wears the purple cap. He sits on the throne of Cyrus the Great and Darius the Dauntless. I would be a loyal Aryan, the king is indeed in Susa or Babylon. But for me the true king of Media and Persia—is here.” And she lifted proud eyes to her husband.
“You are bold, Rose of Eran,” he smiled, not angry at her implication; “more cautious words than these have brought many in peril of the bow-string. But, by Mithra the Fiend-Smiter, why were you not made a man? Then truly would your mother Atossa have given Darius an heir right worthy the twenty kingdoms!”
She gave a gentle laugh.
“The Most High ordains the best. Have I not the noblest kingdom? Am I not your wife?”
His laugh answered her.
“Then I am greater than Xerxes. I love my empire the best!”
He leaned again from the lattice, “O, fairest of cities, and we shall win it! See how the tawny rock turns to silver beneath the moonbeams! How clearly burn the stars over the plain and the mountain! And these Greeks, clever, wise, beautiful, when we have mastered them, have taught them our Aryan obedience and love of truth, what servants will they not become! For we are ordained to conquer. Mazda has given us empire without limit, from the Indus to the Great Ocean of the West,—all shall be ours; for we are Persians, the race to rule forever.”
“We will conquer,” she said dreamily, as enchanted as was he by the beauties of the night.
“From the day Cyrus your grandfather flung down Cambyses the Mede, the High God has been with us. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon—have all bowed under our yoke. The [pg 104]Lydian at golden Sardis, the Tartar on the arid steppes, the Hindoo by his sacred river, all send tribute to our king, and Hellas—” he held out his arms confidently—“shall be the brightest star in the Persian tiara. When Darius your father lay dying, I swore to him, ‘Master, fear not; I will avenge you on Athens and on all the Greeks.’ And in one brief year, O fravashi, soul of the great departed, I may make good the vow. I will make these untamed Hellenes bow their proud necks to a king.”
Her own eyes brightened, looking on him, as he spoke in pride and power.